Like I said, we ARE going to have promos. What can we do to make them more tolerable?
Hi William,
Thanks for responding! I think that what annoys me the most is the RP endorsals from German and other guys that sound like they just got out of bed. I don't know who they are, but to be honest I'd rather hear a Coke commercial. Each time I immediately press the skip button on my Sonos, because it breaks the whole RP vibe. Maybe it's an idea to phase those "commercials" out? :-)
I'm going to say that I have never had a problem with the personal touches William introduces to the Main Mix. I don't find them intrusive to the music and, whenever he provides an anecdotal moment, I usually find it amusing. This is, after all, his station. I do miss the prize promotions though!
Sorry, William. I love you and radioparadise and have been listening/supporting virtually nonstop since mid-2000s. My gratitude is huge for your providing the soundtrack to my life.. I practically raised my kids on your music selections. BUT.. the radio 2050 promos are really annoying. The reason "commercial free" is so appealing is because it means no breaking up the flow of music to be forced to listen to someone trying to pitch me on something they want me to do. Whether that's a "buy consumer product" or "listen to another channel on RP network" is irrelevant... it's still a pitch. the verbal snippets about music history and your thoughts on the music are ok, and the snippets from around the world are ok, I guess. But it's "the pitch" that really assaults my ears.
If you really want to advertise the other things you're doing with RP, a simple, short "hey you might be interested in our talk radio station, too" - akin to when you used to advertise the other mixes very briefly - would be great.
really hope you reconsider your commitment to the pitch!
Seems like what folks here are reacting to the most are the longer Radio2050 promos. Those were 100% my idea.
I know that only a small percentage of the RP listeners who would enjoy what we're doing on Radio2050 if they tuned in have actually done so. We have some really great episodes that we chose to focus on, and I had Alanna create promos for them that went into a bit of detail about the guest & subject.
It's a way of saying "Hey, we have something really different and kind of amazing here. Check it out." But popping in briefly with words to that effect (which is all we've done previously) isn't really that effective at getting people to tune in. So we're shining light on specific reasons to tune in, and specific episodes to tune into. A starting place.
They won't run for much longer. But we do have other channels on the way. They're going to be good. Really good. And we'll be talking about them. Hopefully not too much.
Sorry, William. I love you and radioparadise and have been listening/supporting virtually nonstop since mid-2000s. My gratitude is huge for your providing the soundtrack to my life.. I practically raised my kids on your music selections. BUT.. the radio 2050 promos are really annoying. The reason "commercial free" is so appealing is because it means no breaking up the flow of music to be forced to listen to someone trying to pitch me on something they want me to do. Whether that's a "buy consumer product" or "listen to another channel on RP network" is irrelevant... it's still a pitch. the verbal snippets about music history and your thoughts on the music are ok, and the snippets from around the world are ok, I guess. But it's "the pitch" that really assaults my ears.
If you really want to advertise the other things you're doing with RP, a simple, short "hey you might be interested in our talk radio station, too" - akin to when you used to advertise the other mixes very briefly - would be great.
really hope you reconsider your commitment to the pitch!
Agreed.
Personally, I find the chatty input couldn't be better, it's minimal and when it comes it either enlightens me or makes me chuckle. And pushing your own channels barely qualifies as a commercial in my view. I hardly ever notice it. I guess there are purists out there. To each their own.
The organic human ingredients help make it what it exclusively is.
We're not going to stop talking about our other channels, etc. - but we do our very best to do it in a non-annoying fashion. We're always evaluating that, and welcome the feedback.
Currently, each hour we have one very short (3 - 10 sec, average is 7.8 sec) channel ID, which may contain a brief non-English "thanks for listening", and one longer promo - either a longer bit from a listener, a promo for another channel, support message, etc. Those range from 12 - 47 sec at the moment, though most are on the short end of that range. The average is 18.2 sec.
So in an average hour, you'd get 25 sec of talk. Best case, 15 sec. Absolute worst is a hair under a minute, and that would be very infrequent since there are only a handful of longer promos. We are also a lot better at spacing them out. Most promos only play a few times per week.
Like I said, we ARE going to have promos. What can we do to make them more tolerable?
And those numbers do not include my DJ commentary on the Main Mix. That is extremely variable. Most hours I don't talk at all. Some hours I'll include up to 30 sec, more very occasionally. Yes, it's more than I've done in the past. But my commentary is one of the biggest things differentiating RP from a Spotify playlist or such. We're leaning in to those differences these days, hence I'm maybe a bit more chatty.
Yeah. We're not a playlist. We like to think we're more than that. You know, radio.
Agreed.
Personally, I find the chatty input couldn't be better, it's minimal and when it comes it either enlightens me or makes me chuckle. And pushing your own channels barely qualifies as a commercial in my view. I hardly ever notice it. I guess there are purists out there. To each their own.
I disagree. Promotion of another flavor of what RP is offering is not a commercial. Even NPR cross-promotes its programs. A commercial is the promotion of goods or services that were paid for by a third party.
I love and listen to Radio Paradise for years, but the last half year or so the self-promotion and gratitude-messages seem out of control.
One of the reasons that I listen to Radio Paradise is that there are no commercials, but some random German or Portuguese praising RP every 15 minutes is almost just as annoying.
I'm happy that things are going well at Radio Paradise, but the experience would be so much better if the RP commercials and gratitude messages could be toned down a little. We're already listening!
Cheers :-)
We're not going to stop talking about our other channels, etc. - but we do our very best to do it in a non-annoying fashion. We're always evaluating that, and welcome the feedback.
Currently, each hour we have one very short (3 - 10 sec, average is 7.8 sec) channel ID, which may contain a brief non-English "thanks for listening", and one longer promo - either a longer bit from a listener, a promo for another channel, support message, etc. Those range from 12 - 47 sec at the moment, though most are on the short end of that range. The average is 18.2 sec.
So in an average hour, you'd get 25 sec of talk. Best case, 15 sec. Absolute worst is a hair under a minute, and that would be very infrequent since there are only a handful of longer promos. We are also a lot better at spacing them out. Most promos only play a few times per week.
Like I said, we ARE going to have promos. What can we do to make them more tolerable?
And those numbers do not include my DJ commentary on the Main Mix. That is extremely variable. Most hours I don't talk at all. Some hours I'll include up to 30 sec, more very occasionally. Yes, it's more than I've done in the past. But my commentary is one of the biggest things differentiating RP from a Spotify playlist or such. We're leaning in to those differences these days, hence I'm maybe a bit more chatty.
Yeah. We're not a playlist. We like to think we're more than that. You know, radio.
A âplugâ for radio 2050 is still a commercial. RP is supposed to be commercial free
I disagree. Promotion of another flavor of what RP is offering is not a commercial. Even NPR cross-promotes its programs. A commercial is the promotion of goods or services that were paid for by a third party.
As a final grump. can we cut back on 'Hallelujah' in its multitudinous versions. Its a great song and exquisitely written, but you're turning it into Stairway to Heaven
You may have missed the "Darkness Darkness" period?
I can see your point. I often listen for long stretches & it seems like those break-ins are fairly frequent. Maybe once every 45 minutes to an hour, or a few more tunes between announcements would work? Just dialed back a notch maybe.
I have applauded the 'commercial free' format since I joined the community over a decade ago. There have been several attempts to 'engage' the audience over that time and they all have been rolled back after the 'un-engaged' audience complained. The last iteration before this one was not rolled back but limited the 'engagement' to non-English comments. But sadly added the self promotion of 2050. And William has also gotten DJ chatty. As a member of the 'un-engaged' audience, I don't want to listen to 'engaged' audience members tell me how much they like RP. I know how good RP is that's why I'm still here and support the service. Their 'engagement' does not add to my experience, only muddies the musical waters as it were. Self promotion has invaded all aspects of the streaming media universe. I am forced to watch or listen self promotions on all of my paid subscriptions. As before I financially support the service I don't need or want it to be interrupted for self promotion, I can't support it anymore than I already do. And finally not to be completely negative. I like William's DJ chatty. Its relevant to the music and brings back fond memories of free form independent FM radio, which is exactly what RP is via an updated technology. Grumpy old man signing off.
As a final grump. can we cut back on 'Hallelujah' in its multitudinous versions. Its a great song and exquisitely written, but you're turning it into Stairway to Heaven
I love and listen to Radio Paradise for years, but the last half year or so the self-promotion and gratitude-messages seem out of control.
One of the reasons that I listen to Radio Paradise is that there are no commercials, but some random German or Portuguese praising RP every 15 minutes is almost just as annoying.
I'm happy that things are going well at Radio Paradise, but the experience would be so much better if the RP commercials and gratitude messages could be toned down a little. We're already listening!
Cheers :-)
I can see your point. I often listen for long stretches & it seems like those break-ins are fairly frequent. Maybe once every 45 minutes to an hour, or a few more tunes between announcements would work? Just dialed back a notch maybe.
